He writes: … Bolivia has certainly changed. In La Paz, I attended a large reception given by the Cuban ambassador. Mojitos, buffet, dances… Where was it held? In the ceremonial hall of… the Bolivian army. Yes, the one that killed Ché. Bolivia has certainly changed, but not everyone wishes it well. We had come to get an idea first hand with some progressive intellectuals from about 15 countries. Frei Betto, Ernesto Cardenal, Ramsey Clark, François Houtart, Luis Britto Garcia, Pascual Serrano… A few days of meetings and exchanges with Bolivian intellectuals, representatives of the Indian communities, artists. It’s a sensitive moment. The rightwing is trying to split away the wealthy regions of the country’s East … (full text).

If they tell us that everything that has happened in Yugoslavia is the fault of one man, all the while hiding the manoeuvring by the German and subsequently the American Secret Services to blow to pieces this too independent country, and remaining silent on the arms they furnished to the enemies of the Serbs, long before these wars;

If they hide the discreet but revealing words with which Clinton and other US and NATO leaders admitted that they were carrying out this war on behalf of Globalisation, the multinationals and the control of the oil supply lines;

f they admit today that public opinion was manipulated with regard to the true reasons for past wars (Korea, Suez, Algeria, the Gulf) as well as with regard to the crimes committed by the armies of the West during those wars, but that in recent wars everything was better and the media told the truth;

If the media magnates persist in courageously refusing all debate on the recent media lies;

If the Western leaders affirm in 1998 that the KLA is a terrorist organisation, in 1999 that it is not at all and that in 2001 it most certainly is;

And he writes: … The US elite is divided: Ten years ago, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor to President Carter and the leading strategist in the United States, published his book The Great Chessboard. More or less How to remain the superpower dominating the world. He explained, with the brutal frankness of someone no longer in official position, that Washington must absolutely weaken its rivals : Russia and China, but also Europe and Japan, and prevent them from allying with each other. Divide and rule. Today, what is the balance sheet from George Bush using Brzezinski’ criteria ? Has he managed to weaken the great power rivals ? We would say : fairly well as concerns Japan, fairly well (for the moment) as concerns Europe, but badly as concerns Russia and very badly as concerns China. Globally, Bush has provoked so much resistance that United States’ domination has been weakened. The business interests that had brought him to power – armaments, oil, automobiles, defence, pharmaceutical companies – have seen that Bush’s wars have not brought great profits, or new areas for exploitation. In fact, they have cost more than they have gained. And the Bush administration has been shown up as being a small, restricted circle whose members thought a lot about filling their own pockets but who were incable of tactical finesse and genuine long-term vision. Once the failure had become obvious, the divisions among the US elite, and even in the Bush administration, became exacerbated … (full text, 12/10/08).

The progressive Belgian journalist, Michel Collon, has become a victim of the Belgian state’s vengeance against those opposed to its complicity with the NATO war criminals. At a mass demonstration against the bombing, held in Brussels on 3 April (2000), Michel Collon, along with large numbers of other demonstrators, was arrested and tortured. Now in hospital recovering from his injuries, he told Solidaire what had happened to him: “The forces of law and order pounced on me. In their van, two cops forced me to the ground, handcuffed. They hit me without stopping, on my head, legs, and above all in the ribs and kidneys as well as my genitals. I said: `’I'm not putting up any resistance’. But they answered: `You dirty anarchist, there’s no camera here, so let’s go.’ “They hit me again and again, shouting `You want to demonstrate: you’ll see what it means.’ I begged them to stop but they retorted: `No, we’ll hit you harder’. I felt really terrorised. I thought they would never stop and that they wanted to cause me to become handicapped. “At the police station at Woluwé I had to keep asking to be taken to hospital. Dr Pol De Vos, who was arrested at the same time as me, had to insist for 20 minutes in order to be allowed to examine me. And after that we had to wait another half-hour before they would call an ambulance. The cops wanted one of their own doctors to confirm Pol de Vos’s diagnosis. “I have four broken ribs, damage to my stomach and diaphragm – which is causing me breathing difficulties, concussion and injuries to my genitals, my neck, my teeth and jaw … (full text).

Then he writes: … They have found the solution! Divide Iraq into three mini-states and then pit them against one another. Does that remind you of something else? … In Iraq too, the three large populations do not reside “each in their own region,” but are, for the most part, intermingled. Furthermore, Gelb knows very well that to start up this strategy in Iraq once again would, in all likelihood, provoke serious “ethnic” conflicts, even maybe a civil war. He cynically announces that the state in the center of Iraq “might punish the substantial minorities left in the center, particularly the large Kurdish and Shiite populations in Baghdad. These minorities must have the time and the wherewithal to organize and make their deals, or go either north or south.” In this way, millions of people would be forced to leave the regions where they have always lived, but Gelb doesn’t find this inconvenient if it permits the U.S. to secure colonial domination … The Iraqi resistance is preventing Bush from attacking Iran, Syria, North Korea and Cuba in stride. It shows once again that the United States has never been invincible. Bush is becoming the world’s laughingstock. “Paper tiger” is the classic expression. In this way, the Iraqi resistance offsets the discouragement and the pessimism that had begun to spread in Iraq after the “liberation of Baghdad.” The war is not over; it’s only just beginning. Support the resistance, because we are supporting ourselves. Translated by Milo Yelesiyevich Also available in French and Spanish michel.collon at skynet.be. (full text).